Mounting for double drop trailer tanks



June 26, 1951 R. BERNSTEIN MOUNTING FOR DOUBLE DROP TRAILER TANKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 20, 1947 any.

HTTOENE Y5 R. BERNSTEIN MOUNTING FOR DOUBLE DROP TRAILER TANKS June 26, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 20, 194'? HTTOENEYS Jmw we Patented June 26, 1951 ATENT O'FFICE- MOUNTINGEORDOUBLE DROP TRAILER TANKS Robert Bernstein, Omaha, Nebr.

ApplicationFebruary 20, 1947, Serial No. 729,800

This invention relates to almeans forrmounting;

a double drop trailer tank of the kind shown in" myv copending Design applicatiom Serial No. D. 131,809, filed Ju1y..22,j I946, and issued asPat ent No. D. 150399;, datedjAugust'3'j I948, on a trailer truck at the front of'the trailer tankland on supporting wheelsat the rear ofxthe tank.

One object of theinventionis to provide front and rear frames fabricatedofi'steel shapes welded. together, and welded. to the ends. of fa trailer. 101 tank. for supporting gasoline, oil. and other liquids, the center portion of the tank bein larger in. diameter than the end portions and. the enlarged. center portion being entirely on the underside whereby the top of thetank is a. straight line.

Another object is to provide fabricated subframes, one for the front of the trailer tank having a.king-pin. mounted thereon and mountings for supporting posts when the trailer truck disconnected from thetraileritself, the other. sub-frame being for the rear of. thetrailer tank. and including cross members suitable for mount.- in the springs of rear axles thereon and radius rods or other braces.

Still another object is .to, provide mounting, means for a trailer tank of thekindlthathas a drop portion wherein the mounting is in the form of longitudinal rails with bolsters connecting the rails together, and the bolsters being so. shaped; as to fitthe contour of. thetank and being welded thereto.

A further object is. to providegusset connections from. one end-of each sub-frame to the dropportion. of the tank. whereby the sub-frames: and drop portionmutually reinforce each other.

Still a further obj.ect-. is-to.- provide sub-frame structures, the parts of which are'readilyfabrieated from steel shapes-and. formedfromsteel plates,. and which can be assembled in relation, to each. other and welded together in a. minimum amount of time, thus providing, a. trailer. tank structure that can. be. manufactured at. a. mini mum, cost.

With these and other objects in view, my invention. consists in theconstruction. arrange.- 15 ment and combination of th'evariousparts of my. devicewhereby the objectscontemplated are-at tained as hereinafter more. fully set forth, pointed. out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein: T

Figure I is av side elevation of a double'drop trailer tank with my mounting means applied, thereto.

Figure 2 is an underside perspective view of the frontend of'the tank showing details of the mounting.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of' one. corner of: the tank-and mounting.

Figure 4 is a plan view of substantially onehalf "of'the front sub-frame, takenon the'line.

4-4 of Figure 3, showing in dotted lines the re-.- lation of the tank thereto.

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line.5-5 1' of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an underside perspective view of the rear end of the trailer tank with therear sub-frame mounted thereon, and. discloses details of the sub-frame.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the'rear sub-framewith the relation of the trailer tankv thereto indicated by dotted lines.v

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is an elongated sectional view on the.

line 9-9 of Figure 7..

Figure 10 is a sectional view onthe'line l0l0- of Figure 7, and

Figure 11 is a sectional view on the line I l-l l of Figure 7.

On the accompanyin drawings. I have used: the reference numeral ID to indicate in general.

a trailer tank. The tank I0 is elliptical in cross section witha front end section IZanda rear. end:v

section M. The sections l2 and I4 are less in size than a center or dropportion; l6 of thetanki. The front end of the tank I0 indicated at I! 'is. curved on a radius about the axisof a king-pin l8 to provide clearance for swinging of. the trailer;

tank in relation to the trailer truck when turning corners.

The rear wall of the tank Ill indicated. at 20 is preferably convex for maximum strength. The: tank IU, of course, may be made of steel, alu-- minum or any other suitable sheet metal with: the various portions thereof welded, brazed or;

otherwise suitably connected together.

For the front portion !2 of the trailer tank H],

I provide a sub-frame comprising a pair of chan-,

nel shaped rails 22 and bolsters numbered l, 2' and 3. The bolster l is, merely a verticai plate, and curved in plan view as shown in Figure 4;- The: plate is cut to the front elevational shape shown in Figure 5 wherein. approximately one half of the bolster 2 is shown and the center line- The bolster plate 2 has a rectangular notch 2 formed therein toreceive-- The rail is welded in position and" is indicated at 19.

each rail 22. a rectangular filler plate 26 is there-after welded into the channel and against the rear faceof the Similarly'bolstert has the flanges 2'8Jand130. It; doesnt have the notch. 24' however, as therear... ends oftherails 22:. are welded to its front sure face. j v

2' differs from The upper edges or the plate forming bolster l and the upper edges of bolsters 2 and 3 are welded to the tank portion l2. Airing-pin plate 32 is welded to the lower flanges of the rails 22 adjacent their forward ends. The king-pin I8 is welded to the center of this plate and may coact with the usual king-pin socket of a trailer truck. The forward edge of the king-pin plate is out on a curve as shown in Figure 4 and its marginal edge is turned up slightly as indicated at 34 for the purpose of facilitating coaction of the kingpin plate and the king-pin with the platform of the trailer truck that has the king-pin socket mounted thereon.

At the rear end of the front sub-frame a pair of gusset plates 36 are provided having vertical and horizontal flanges each of which is substantially triangular in shape. The upper edges of the vertical flanges are welded to the inclined portion of the tank ill which is indicated at 38, and the rear edges of the gusset plates are welded to the tank'at the front end of the drop portion l6.

Triangular supporting plates 46 are welded to the rails 22 and the bolster 3 and vertical tubular posts 42- have their upper ends welded to the plates 40. The posts are braced by steel tubes 44 and 46 welded in position, and telescopically receive posts 48 which terminate in supporting shoes 50.

The rear sub-frame comprises a pair of rails 52 which like the rails 22 are channel shaped. Bolsters 4, and 6 are provided comprising flat plates with flanges 28 and 3!! similar to the plates that form the bolsters 2 and 3. The bolster 5 is notched, the same as the bolster 2 at 24 in Figure 5, to receive the channels 52, and filler plates 26 are provided the same as in Figure 5. The front and rear ends of the rails 52 are welded to the rear and front surfaces of the bolsters 4 and 6, respectively, in the manner already. described for bolster 3. The upper edges of the bolsterplates 4, 5 and 6 are welded to the rear section M of the trailer tank [0.

:Additional cross braces are provided between the rails 52 in the form of channels 5d, 55 and 58 and 60. The channels 54 and 55 are provided for supporting in any suitable manner the springs and axle of a pair of forward wheels 62 shown in Figure 1. Similarly the channels 58 and iii] are provided for rear wheels 64.

At the forward end of the rear sub-frame gusset plates 36 similar to those at the rear end of the front sub-frame are provided and these are welded to the slanting portion 56 of the tank in the same manner that the front gussets are welded to the slanted portion 38. A cross frame reinforcement is also provided adjacent these gusset plates in the form of a bottom plate 58 extending from the bolster l rearwardly and having a vertical flange 18 along its rear edge and terminating in a horizontal flange 72. This is reinforced by angle bars l4 welded to the rails 52 and to each end of the plate 68 as shown in Figure 9 and by a fore and aft extending channel member 16 also welded in position. The elements 68 and 7B are adapted for the attachment of radius rods 78 or other suitable brace rods for the axles of the wheels 62 and St.

From the construction of the mounting means herein described, it will be obvious that a rigid sub-frame is provided for each end of a trailer or transport tank and particularly that type of tank which has a drop center. The sub-frames and the tank mutually reinforce each other and the sub-frames provide an effective support for one end of the tank in respect to a trailer truck.

4 and for the other end in respect to supporting wheels attached directly to the rear sub-frame. The drop portion of the tank provides greater capacity without increasing the overall height as the drop portion is entirely in the lower half of the tank. This brings the center of gravity closer to the ground yet there is no interference with supporting means for the trailer tank because the supports are only at the end sections I2 and [4 of the tank. The entire structure is readily fabricated from steel plates and channels by a welding process which makes for a cheap yet sturdy and serviceable finished structure.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing fromthe real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims such modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents as may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a trailer tank of the character disclosed,

said tank comprising a center section and a pair of end sections, said end sections being of less diameter vertically than said center section and the top of all three sections being coincident, transition sections between the small diameter end sections and the large'diameter center section, structural framing along the exterior of the bottom of the tank beneath only the end sections, said structural framing comprisin a subframe for each of said end sections, each subframe comprising a pair of rails, bolster plates ary ranged laterally thereof and secured to the rails 35 and downwardly and forwardly, said gusset plates each having a vertical flange and a horizontal flange secured to said transition sections, and said sub-frames and gusset plates being all disposed entirely above the bottom surface of said center section.

2. In a transport tank, said tank comprising a center section and a pair of end sections, structural framing along the exterior of the bottom of the tank beneath only the end sections, said ,,structural framing comprising a sub-frame for cured to said center section, said gusset plates being disposed entirely above the bottom surface of said center section, a king-pin plate welded on the front end of the front sub-frame. and means on said rear sub-frame for supporting it on wheels.

3. In combination with a transport tank having a drop center section, and front and rear end sections, structural framing along the exterior of thebottom of the tank beneath only the end sections, said structural framing comprising a sub-frame for each of said front and rear end sections, each sub-frame comprising rails, and bolsters welded together and to said end sections, gusset plate connections from the ends of said center section to the adjacent ends of said subframes, said sub-frames and gusset plate connec- 5 tions being all disposed entirely above the bottom surface of said center section.

4. In combination with a transport tank having front and rear sections, mountin means comprising a sub-frame for each of said sections, each sub-section comprising a pair of transversely spaced longitudinal rails, a plurality of longitudinally spaced transverse bolster plates having their surfaces welded to the ends of said rails, and the intermediate bolster plates having openings receiving said rails and being welded to said rails, said bolster plates being secured to the tank.

5. In combination with a transport tank having front and rear sections, mounting means comprising a sub-frame for each of said sections, each sub-section comprising a pair of transverse- 1y spaced longitudinal channel shape rails, a plurality of longitudinally spaced transverse bolster plates havin their surfaces welded to the ends of said rails, and the intermediate bolster plates having openings receiving said rails and being welded to said rails, filler plates in said rails and welded to said intermediate bolster plates, said bolster plates being secured to the tank.

ROBERT BERNSTEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

